1. Health Care Reform
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President Obama himself declared that we should judge his first term on whether we get a national health care plan. While the exact specs of the Obama campaign have not been formally introduced, it's been no secret for a couple years now that Barack Obama and his advisors abhor any form of Medicare-For-All or single payer health care.
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Obama's series of regional health care "summits," although billed as the chance to get input from all the relevant have pointedly excluded any voices for single payer health care....
Five points for admitting health care is a human right, minus one for suppressing discussion of single payer. Four out of nine.
As one would expect, BAR focuses on the essentials. No wonky mess[ing with your mind]. The scoring might be a bit generous, however.
2. Creating New Jobs and Preserving Old Ones
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What we see is a failure of imagination on the part of the Obama administration. Not only does the First Black President declare it's the job of the private sector, never government, to create jobs, a stand closer to Herbert Hoover than to Franklin Roosevelt --- his "stimulus packages" have refused to fully fund the operations of local and state governments.
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One point out of five for the Obama rhetoric on green jobs, and the $10 billion directed toward high speed rail..
It's astonishing how few people ever even mention the failure to fully fund state and local governments, given how devastating--and totally avoidable--the resulting cuts are to the nation's economy. It's expected that BAR would do better.
3. Fully Funding and Preserving Public Education
There is no good news here....
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No Child Left Behind, the bipartisan corporate Bush era "education reform," which allows schools and entire districts to be threatened with closure and privatization, seems destined to remain intact for the forseeable future under an Obama administration.
Zero points here of a possible six.
Again, BAR sees the obvious, which everyone else ignores. Is there an emerging theme here?
4. War and Peace
From 2003 onward, Barack Obama staked his political career on conveying to voters the impression that he opposed the war in Iraq, while vigorously signalling to the bipartisan foreign policy establishment that he was really one of them. By early 2008 Obama closed the circle, openly endorsing the Bush "surge" and war aims in Iraq....
The president says he will talk to Iran, which is worth a point, but continues the Bush policy of threatening Russia with NATO expansion right up to its borders, which takes away the single point.
Zero out of nine points.
Is anyone from MoveOn reading this?
5. Transportation
After more than a half century of disinvestment, the US passenger rail network is the laughing stock of the developed world....
The initial investment of $10 billion, apparently pushed at the president's personal initiative is a modest start, with the potential to create tens of thousands of new jobs, though not right away. Obama probably knows that $100 billion over his first term would be a minimally reasonable down payment on a world class passenger rail network, which will be cheaper and more sustainable than America's dependence on highways and air travel....
Four points out of five.
6. Caribbean and Latin America
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Obama deserves a half point for shaking hands with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, and another half point for not striking the usual full frontal crudity pose toward Cuba at the inter-American summit earlier this month....
The brutal occupation of Haiti by a US financed proxy force of so-called peacekeepers, also continues unmentioned by the US press, and unremarked upon by the Obama administration.
Lots of room for improvement here.
One and a half points out of four.
The occupation of Haiti is one of the biggest indicators of what real change would look like in America's foreign policy. BAR is quite right to highlight it.
7. Obama's Africa Policy: Our Brotherman and the Motherland
Nobody who thinks half a minute about it imagines that the militarization of Africa, and of US policy toward Africa is a good thing. It has been US policy for more than two decades. Among the bipartisan designers of this policy are Obama's top foreign policy advisors including Madeline Albright and Susan Rice. You can look awfully hard for some good news in Obama's policy toward Africa so far, and find no reason for optimism.
We'll give him one point out of five anyway, for no good reason. Call it hope.
8. Bailing Out Wall Street
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Not a single economist, regulator, or financial analyst who predicted the bursting of the bubble economy, and there were many, has been hired by Obama's financial gurus, and every financial policy seems aimed at rescuing speculators rather than the American people....
Zero points out of six.
Cuts right to the heart of the matter.
9. Debt and Foreclosure Crises
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Until there is a commitment on the part of the Obama administration to lower interest rates on current and new consumer, mortgage, and student loans, to restricting interest rates in future lending, and a restoration of bankruptcy laws that enable individuals to liquidate their debt and start anew, we cannot give Barack Obama any more than a single hopeful point out of six.
It sure would be nice if Obama paid 1/10th the attention he pays to basketball to the history of the New Deal, especially seeing as how he's not about to coach any team in championship setting anytime soon.
10. Investigatng the Bush Era Crimes
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The Obama vision of reconciliation without truth incentivizes further violations of law on the part of government, If there were negative points, we would award them here.
Zero out of five.
Boy howdy!
11. Criminalizing Immigration and Militarizing the Border
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Obama gets one point for rhetoric, and another point for not deploying troops to the border.
Two out of five.
The scoring is a sad commentary on the state of immigration politics. But unfortunately, it's realistic.
12. Broadband For Everyone, Low Power Radio, and a Just and Fair Media
One of the administration's professed goals is the extension of broadband availability to underserved rural and urban areas. The designation of $7 billion for this purpose, and the nomination of former FCC commissioner Jonathan Adelstein to supervise its dispensation is a promising start....
The administration says it is for network neutrality, and has not opposed low power FM radio as far as we know. Its position on media consolidation and the future of music remain unknown.
Two points awarded here for substance, and one for hope.
Three out of five.
13. Environment
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The Obama adminstration gets a single point for talking up fuel economy standards and green jobs, with another thrown in for hope. One [sic-should be two] point out of five.
Me, I'd take away a point for not stopping the legal proceedings against Tim DeChristopher. But what fun would it be if we agreed on everything?
14. Agricultural Policy, and Policy Toward Black Farmers
.... one of the first acts of Obama's new Secretary of Agriculture was to meet with black farmers of the Southern Federation of Rural Cooperatives. After decades of malign neglect toward African American farmers, a single meeting isn't much, but it's hopeful, worth two points of a possible five.
More hope than I have. But see my comment on #13 above.
15. Mass Black Imprisonment
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If the First Black President cannot grow a pair on this issue, and come out for restorative justice, elimination of disparate penalties, banning of incarceration of juveniles with adults or an end to indeterminate sentencing, he deserves no points. It's tough, it's a high standard, but a fair one.
Zero out of five.
No other country on Earth comes close to our abominable record.
16. The Employee Free Choice Act
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On the campaign trail President Obama endorsed the EFCA, but generally, only when asked or when appearing at union halls and labor functions. Since assuming office he has rarely mentioned it....
We are waiting for President Obama to show this leadership. Still waiting.... Two points of a possible five, and slipping.
It's almost as if he doesn't want labor's help in passing his agenda as the months and years go by.
17. Urban Policy
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We award the Obama administration two points for establishing an office of Urban Policy, and take away one of those for appointing a New York pol with ties to real estate developers to the post.
One out of five.
Seems a fair assessment of a baffling policy.
18. Privatization of Government Agencies and Services Including the Military
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Vast portions of the nation's intelligence, prisons and military establishments, for example, have been privatized. This is an issue never mentioned by candidate Obama or President Obama, but one vital to the future of any sort of democracy.
Zero points out of five.
Another example of a major issue that BAR is almost alone in noticing.
A hundred days is far too early for anyone to score a hundred points on a list of concerns like these. 55 would have been passing, and 45 a sign of hopes being actually redeemed on some fronts. But at under 25 out of a possible 100 our First Black President is at best a chronic underacheiver, as far as the real needs of African Americans go.
And BAR puts to shame virtually the entire known universe of political commentators, on this occassion, as on so many others. |
